Dem Chairman: ‘This definitely smells of dirty politics!’

The King County Democrats chair, Bailey Stober, accused of sexual harassment, is claiming he’s the victim of “dirty politics.” In fact, it turns out, one of the vice chairs calling for Stober’s resignation — the one who helped in the investigation — stands to gain the chairmanship if he were to resign.

Was a Democrat drunk while working on the state budget?

As I explained this week, an unnamed, former staffer with King County Democrats claimed chair Bailey Stober would repeatedly ask her for drinks, then insult her when she said no, according to Jim Brunner of The Seattle Times, citing a leaked internal memo written by vice chairs Michael Maddux, Orchideh Raisdanai, and Cat Williams. The vice chairs have called on Stober to resign.

That staffer implies she was fired in retaliation, though Stober explained to me on my KTTH morning show that she was fired “because she vandalized somebody’s property when she disagreed with their First Amendment rights.” You can see the alleged incident via surveillance footage here. Stober denies any wrongdoing.

The investigation has been harshly criticized by party leadership for being unfair. Indeed, Stober says the vice chairs didn’t even talk to him about the allegations which, he says, would have given them some context. Moreso, the investigation was in violation of the King County Democrats’ charter. And, if Stober were to resign, one of the vice chairs running the investigation stands to gain his position.

“Oddly, if I were to resign right now, [vice chair] Michael Maddux, the person heading this investigation and calling for my resignation, would actually become chair of the King County Democrats,” explained Stober. “I won’t point fingers, but I will tell you this definitely smells of dirty politics.”

We’ve reached out to Maddux through the King County Democrats, inviting him on my show for an interview, but have not yet heard back. If we do, I’ll update this story.

I wondered if Stober was a victim of the unintended consequences of the #MeToo movement, where we seem to rush to call someone guilty simply over an allegation. There’s no doubt the movement was necessary and has shined a light on horrific behavior, but the conversation has shifted to concern that we’re going too far in condemning folks before even pretending to offer them some due process.

“I do think we need to make sure we don’t go back to a place and time where we can have a crime committed against us, point at the first person that walks by that we disagree with, and there’s no due process,” Stober told me. “People can be ruined by a false accusation and in my case, there’s a false accusation and all I want is due process. Because I think if there is a fair and partial investigation it will prove my point.”

As I said on air, I have no clue if Stober is innocent or guilty. I spoke to him for the first time on air Wednesday morning. But I do know that this investigation, if you can call it that, didn’t seem fair, and one of the people who headed it has a lot to gain if Stober resigns. And how did the Seattle Times get this memo? It appears to have been leaked to them. Was it meant to be reported as a means to pressure Stober into resigning? It’s awfully suspicious.

Does that mean Maddux was wrong to call for Stober’s resignation? Does it mean what Maddux may have discovered should be discounted? No, not to me. But it has the appearance of bias and he should have recused himself. And, if they truly care about investigating the claims, they should, oh I don’t know, talk to Stober and get his side before assuming he’s guilty?

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